Lord, you are life and
truth and goodness. You are also peace and mercy. How grateful I am to have this moment to turn to
you. Without you I can do nothing good. In fact, when I do good it is you working through me,
despite my failings. Thank you Lord. Here I am ready to love you more.

Heavenly Father, I believe that you are always working to save us. Keep us open to your action.
Lord, you are life and truth and goodness. You are also peace and mercy. How grateful I am to have
this moment to turn to you. Without you I can do nothing good. In fact, when I do good, it is you
working through me, despite my failings. Thank you, Lord. Here I am ready to love you more.

Petition:

Help me to see your will, Lord, above and beyond my own will and my own plans.

1. No Middle
Ground:

One Side or the Other. Today’s Gospel opens with the
response to Jesus’ raising of Lazarus from the dead. Some eyewitnesses of the miracle believed in
him, but others did not; in fact, they went to “pour fuel on the fire” with the adversaries of
Christ who were seeking a reason to condemn him. Here we see the mystery of human freedom at work.
The overt action of God in our lives obliges us, in a certain sense, to move to either side of the
truth. To what side of the truth am I moved when I sense the manifest action of God at work in my
life, in the voice of my conscience, or in the lives of others? Does it help me to believe ever more
deeply in Christ?

2. Is it All
About Power?

Why did the Pharisees so
oppose the message and action of Jesus? We can only imagine a number of responses to this question.
One way of looking at the problem is to see it as the natural consequence of the human tendency
toward control –even the control of things spiritual. The religious authorities of Christ’s time no
doubt saw themselves as the custodians of the faith handed down to them by their forefathers. But it
seems that slowly this custody became control. The authorities become less interested in the
legitimacy of Jesus’ identity, message, and mission and more interested in maintaining the
established religious and political order. Yet even their resistance is incorporated into God’s
plan. Their rejection leads Jesus to die for the nation, “and not only for the nation, but also to
gather into one the dispersed children of God.” How much do I try
to control God’s action in my life? Do I realize that he
uses even this to a spiritual advantage for those with faith?

3. Willingly Embracing the Father’s
Will:

Letting Go.
We can only imagine the inner thoughts and feelings of Christ as the events leading to his suffering
and death begin to unfold, just as he knows they will. Instead of resisting the Father’s plan, we
see Christ serene and composed as the tension builds. We see his sense of determination and decision
increase. He is fully committed to the Father’s will. Jesus teaches us the wisdom of letting go of
circumstances that are fully within the Father’s purview. He teaches us to embrace the divine will
with total trust and serenity, no matter how difficult it may be for us.

Conversation with
Christ:

You know, Lord, what is
best for me because you are my Father, immensely good, inclined towards me, attentive to my pleas,
eager to give me the body of your Son ever present in the great mystery of your Eucharist.

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